Allow me to pay my respects to His Majesty King Letsie III and Her Majesty the Queen ‘Masenate,

The Right Honourable the Prime Minister, Ntsokoane Sam Matekane,

Honourable Ministers in His Majesty’s Cabinet, in particular,

The Honourable Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Hon. Limpho Tau

The Honourable Minister of Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture, Hon. Motlatsi Maqelepo

The Honourable Minister of Environment and Forestry, Hon. Letsema Adontsi

The Honourable Minister of Education and Training, Prof. Ntoi Rapapa

Their Excellences Heads of Diplomatic missions and members of the diplomatic community,

Representatives of Government Ministries,

Representatives of Civil Society Organisations,

Representatives of the Media,

Bo-‘M’e le Bo-Ntate,

All participants in today’s event,

Khotsong,

It is a great pleasure to be here today, because this conference speaks about youth, culture, environment protection, innovation – all matters very close to our heart, and where the European Union wants to bring its support.

Cultural diversity is an integral part of the values of the European Union – promoting it within our Member States and at international level. There are three key pillars for of the European Union’s international cultural cooperation:

1. First, unlocking the potential of culture and creativity for sustainable social and economic development – we see culture as a source of inclusive growth and job creation as demonstrated by the global trade in creative products, which has continued to expand in recent years, despite economic uncertainty. Cultural and creative industries hold great potential for countries like Lesotho that seek to diversify their economies and leapfrog into one of the most dynamic sectors of the world economy – the industry is responsible for 3% of the global GDP, but only 1.1% of Africa’s GDP. At the moment, cultural and creative industries employ 2 million people in Africa and the Middle East.
2. Second, promoting peace and fighting radicalisation through intercultural dialogue – we believe that intercultural dialogue can build and promote understanding and solidarity within and between societies.
3. Third, strengthening cooperation on cultural heritage – for us, cultural heritage is an important expression of cultural diversity that deserves protection. The European Union can play an important role in the safeguarding of cultural heritage around the world by providing training, skills development and knowledge transfer activities to partner countries such as Lesotho.

To deliver on these statements the EU has designed a number of programmes in support of cultural and creative industries:

In Southern Africa, for example, the Sound Connects Fund – with a contribution of EUR 3.8 m – has enabled the financing of 35 projects with the aim of increasing the economic revenues of the creative sector, fostering the creation of sustainable jobs in the cultural sector as well as better accessibility, recognition and valorisation of artists and their works. The Fund has been supporting festivals, literary products, new board games, fashion designers…One of such projects was also the Building the Ecosystem of Creative and Cultural Industry for the Film and Design Sectors in Southern Africa (BECCI-SA) that we are here to learn more about today. The same Fund supports the Lesotho Archive Project, collecting materials related to the country's rap culture and history, to provide a platform for local artists (writers, videographers, broadcasters).

Another tool is the support mechanism for audio-visual co-production under the ACP-EU Culture Programme, set up to boost the film and audio-visual sectors. The Programme has already given very positive results with more than 120 co-productions supported in all Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions since 2020, and a number of capacity building/accompanying activities for young producers. In this field, a number of opportunities will be published soon on the websites of our European and African partners, including the ACP World Cinema Fund.

Finally, CreatiFI is a new blending initiative designed to leverage impact investment in the Cultural and Creative Industries in ACP countries. It complements the ACP EU culture programme and future programmes by opening up the possibilities for attracting local and international investors who would be wishing to make risk-adjusted investments in viable business into the cultural and creative value chains identified by the other actions.

The European Union intends to remain committed to promoting creative and cultural industries, and will continue to promote and support cultural cooperation across borders, audio-visual creations, inter-cultural cultural exchanges.

Bo-‘M’e le Bo-Ntate, we would like to thank the project team of the BECCI-SA project for all their work over the past few months – and for organising this conference and bringing together so many artists, creators and organisations as well as individuals committed to the development of cultural and creative industries in Lesotho and in the region.

We look forward to the following two days, but also hope that the conversations and ideas will continue to be developed in the months and years to come.

Kea leboha.